Daytona Supercross 2012 – Practice Gallery

The Daytona Supercross Presented By Honda has kicked off the action at Bike Week, but rain has played a toll on the day’s schedule. After the early “free practice” session took place, the skies opened and forced the race organizers to eliminate the first timed practice session of the day. The lanes and low areas of Ricky Carmichael designed track were filled with water during the break, but the by limiting the activity on the circuit, the track was somewhat salvaged.

The open practice had a looser feel than what we have experienced at any other round this year (or in recent memory for that matter), as Ricky Carmichael took to the track with the rest of the “A” group and James Stewart’s JGR Yamaha was adorned with his early 259 digits. Carmichael is not racing this evening, and Stewart will switch back to his customary number 7 when the actual racing begins.

The day is not without reminders that the season has seen a dramatic shake up in the running order, with both the injured Chad Reed on hand to spectate and Ryan Dungey’s KTM SX-F 450 sitting idle beneath the KTM awning.

Lits Qualifying

Geico Powersports Honda’s Justin Barcia topped the charts in the Lites class over rivals Blake Baggett and Ken Roczen by .786 of a second. The defending champion and Baggett were the only riders in the Lites class to dip below the 1:27 mark.

Lites Qualifying Times

1. Justin Barcia 1:26.076

2. Blake Baggett 1:26.862

3. Ken Roczen 1:27.075

4. PJ Larsen 1:27.273

5. Blake Wharton 1:27.317

6. Darryn Durham 1:27.443

7. Justin Bogle 1:27.625

8. Alex Martin 1:28.382

9. Austin Politelli 1:28.849

10. Jake Canada 1:29.088

Supercross Qualifying

James Stewart decimated the quagmire on his JGR/Toyota/Yamaha and netted a 1:21.997 lap time, roughly three and a half seconds faster than closest competitor Kevin Windham. Stewart, Windham, Ryan Villopoto, and Davi Millsaps were the only riders of the day to break the 1:25 mark.